Plenty of factors to consider in Penn State coaching search

Penn State wide receiver Devon Smith can't hang on to a pass during the 1st quarter at Camp Randall Stadium.

Four weeks have passed since Penn State University fired iconic football coach Joe Paterno in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky investigation.

The program has yet to officially replace him.

Former defensive coordinator Tom Bradley accepted the interim head job late on the evening of Nov. 9, a few days before PSU lost 17-14 to Nebraska at Beaver Stadium.

The 9-3 Lions went 1-2 on Bradley's watch, winning at Ohio State 20-14 before receiving a 45-7 pummeling by Wisconsin in Madison on Nov. 26 to close out the season. A Jan. 2 date with 12-1 Houston at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas awaits PSU in the TicketCity Bowl.

It is assumed, and expected, that Penn State will have its permanent head coach by then.

But the clock is ticking. Recruits who have made verbal commitments to the 2012 class want to know who the new guy is, as do current players, formers players and the nationwide fan base.

Acting athletic director David Joyner is part of a six-member search committee charged Nov. 28 with finding Mr. Right.

Bradley has gone public with his desire to become the permanent coach. The question is, who else has officially thrown his hat in the ring?

According to published reports, it appears former PSU player Darren Perry is interested in the job and so is Green Bay assistant coach Tom Clements.

But It would be easier to tell you who hasn't thrown his hat into the ring.
Tony Dungy is out, so is Kirk Ferentz. And former PSU captain Al Golden is believed to be staying in Miami. A day before PSU lost to Wisconsin, Golden signed a contract extension with the Hurricanes through February of 2020.

Dungy, the former Indianapolis Colts' coach, told USA Today that he is not interested in coming to State College.

"I'm flattered when people mention my name but I'm really in the parent mode right now,'' Dungy told USA Today, noting his son, Eric, is a freshman on the Oregon football team and he wants to watch him play.

Ferentz, the longtime Iowa head coach and a guy who hails from western Pennsylvania and a longtime Paterno admirer, took himself out of the PSU picture Tuesday, telling the Gazette of Cedar Rapids (Iowa): "Am I a [PSU] candidate? I'll be coaching at Iowa next year, is that your question?

"Year 14 coming up. As long as Iowa will have me, I'll be here.''

Former PSU star lineman Mike Munchak is also not a candidate. Munchak, whose final season with the Lions was 1981, played his entire NFL career with the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans and is in his first year as Titans head coach after a lengthy run as a Tennessee Titans assistant on Jeff Fisher's staff.

Munchak is in the first year of a three-year contract with Tennessee and his Titans are 7-5 and firmly in the middle of the AFC playoff race.

"I haven't contacted anybody about [the] Penn State job,'' Munchak told The Tennessean late last week.

"I haven't reached out to anyone.''

So who does that leave other than Bradley? Well, there's Perry and Clements, the Packers' assistants.

The Post-Gazette of Pittsburgh, quoting Perry's agent, Chris Turnage, reported that Perry, a former PSU defensive back, would be interested in the head coaching job.

Clements, a former Notre Dame quarterback who is from McKees Rocks in western Pennsylvania, has applied for the PSU job, according to a Tuesday report by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Another factor to consider in the coaching search is recruiting. Penn State's 2012 class stands at 14 commitments after the Lions lost a pair of verbals following the news of Paterno's ouster and the child sex abuse charges facing Sandusky, a former PSU assistant.

Colorado offensive lineman Joey O'Connor decommitted and so did tight end J.P. Holtz of Pittsburgh's Shaler High School.

Monday, Bishop McDevitt pass-rushing standout Noah Spence, a player who is considering Penn State, scheduled his first official visit -- Ohio State on Dec. 17. Spence, the Gatorade Pennsylvania Football Player of the Year, did not have Ohio State on his short list at the start of his senior season. But a lot has changed in the last month at Penn State and at Ohio State, where Urban Meyer is the new coach.

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